If You Forget Me
by EvaQ
Summary: "At least boys know you exist," Rosa laughed. "I would be completely satisfied just for one-decent or not-to get my name right."
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Rosa held on to her father's hand tightly as they wound their way through the crowds of Kings Cross Station. They slowly passed through the hustle and bustle of the early commuters, her father with a slight grimace on his face. They paused between platforms nine and ten and Rosa looked around curiously.

"Where is it?" she quietly asked her father. He just shook his head and looked around again. Her father was a lean and bony man with thinning, black curly hair. He wore a bowler hat today and a nice suit for work and fit in quite well with the surrounding Londoners except for his darting eyes and underfed frame.

He looked positively paranoid as he muttered under his breath, "I don't like this witchcraft business."

"Papa maybe you should go to work; I'm sure it's around here somewhere," Rosa said. She wasn't sure but she knew that for every minute her father stayed with her he lost a minute of his wages at the radio station.

Her father looked down to the watch hanging loosely on his arm. He twisted it to read the time. "Your mother told me to tell you to write as soon as you get there." He leaned down to hug Rosa and his thick mustache and beard bristled against her face and her eyes began to sting. "Be careful. Do not trust these people. Avoid trouble. Try not to make your mother worry so much." He squeezed her shoulders again and whispered into her ear "don't forget where you come from."

Rosa nodded tensely. Her father disappeared into the conjoining crowd and she looked around bewilderedly.

After a moment, she noticed a family strolling towards her. The boy pushed an identical trunk on his cart and her eyes squinted as they approached. She could hear their words now—they were so close.

"Mum, we didn't have to get here so bloody early you know!" A boy with glasses whined.

"Mind your language, James." His mother responded with a warmhearted ferocity.

"What am I supposed to do? Sit on the train for half an hour?"

"We thought you might want some time for goodbyes. We're not going to see you until Christmas, you know," said his father lightheartedly. James's cheeks turned slightly red and he refused to respond.

"Well, here we are… are you ready?" The father continued, ruffling the boy's hair. Rosa felt a brief stab of jealousy at the family's closeness. While she knew her parents loved her, they always treated her so desperately, as if they were speaking their last words to her in every sentence. She felt guilty for feeling smothered as she watched the boy-James-interact with his parents so casually.

"I want to go first," James said defiantly, looking up to his parents. They nodded and he stepped right in front of Rosa, aiming his cart and trunk directly at the bit of wall between platforms nine and ten. He crouched down slightly, like a lion preparing to leap, before bounding up towards the wall.

Rosa let out a scared yelp, before yelling, "wait!" just in time to halt the boy from slamming into the wall. He turned around to glare at her and she noticed that, despite her volume, the only people who had noticed were James and his parents.

"What?" James asked; the same tone of defiance that he had used with his parents was still present in his voice.

"You-you were going to hit…" Rosa stammered, embarrassed by his abrasiveness.

"No I wasn't!" James protested but he wasn't cut off by his mother's laughter.

"You must be a muggleborn," she said and Rosa twitched her eyebrows, unsure of whether this was a jibe, "are you a first year?"

Rosa nodded quickly and wordlessly.

His mother continued. "This is the entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. You have to walk through the wall to get there. Show her, Edward." The father quickly darted around James and seemed to disappear into the brick wall.

Rosa felt her eyes widen, realizing this was what it meant to be a witch.

"Here, I'll go through with you after James," the mother said and she pushed James slightly as he bounced through the wall.

Rosa smiled and James's mother softly put her hands onto the cart and helped Rosa push it through. She closed her eyes just as she was about to hit the wall and felt an icy coldness brush her skin, before it disappeared. She opened her eyes again in awe.

"But-but that was…" she said quietly as she took in the scarlet steam engine in front of her.

The mother smiled down at her. "That wasn't too hard now, was it?"

Rosa shook her head and added, "thank you, ma'am," but her eyes were darting around the platform. It was packed with people-who she could only assume to be wizards-in long robes and tall hats. There were owls flitting around the ceiling and kids running joyfully everywhere. She smiled, and as James's mother turned to fuss over her son's hair, Rosa slipped out of their visage towards the train.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" Rosa looked up. She had been sitting on the train for nearly 20 minutes now and it hadn't even left the station. Having contented her self with gazing at the chaos on the platform, she felt startled by the two newcomers but she shook her head politely.

"Not at all."

"I'm Lily, by the way. And this is Severus. Are you a first year?" The girl asked and her hand idly played with the ends of her long, sleek red hair nervously.

Rosa nodded as they sat down.

"And who are you?" the boy-Severus-asked, sliding in next to Lily. He had a beaklike nose and jaw-length black hair. He looked like he hadn't been in the sun in months, Rosa decided.

"I'm Rosa."

"What's your last name?" Severus asked quickly.

"It's Pearl," she said.

"Muggleborn?" He asked and for some reason he seemed to gain a more confident position as he said this, Rosa noted.

"I think so. I mean, I'm not quite sure what that is, but someone else said that today too so, I think I am?" She answered, her eyes darting between the two of them.

Lily beamed. "I am as well! It's just a fancy word for someone whose parents aren't magical," she explained. "Severus's mom is a witch," she added.

"Do you already know magic?" Rosa questioned. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, feeling slightly insecure. School hadn't even started and somehow these two had already become friends and, she assumed, practiced magic.

"A bit," Severus said slyly, "but no one really knows that much before Hogwarts."

"Oh, good," Rosa smiled, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I've been reading some of our textbooks for this year, just to be prepared," Lily added. "Of course I can't do anything yet, but it's all quite interesting!" Rosa smiled at Lily's warmth. She didn't feel as left out knowing that they were all in the same boat academically but made a mental note to read as much as she could of her textbooks tonight before classes started tomorrow. She didn't want to fall behind. She could just imagine her parents' faces if she failed out of school.

The train started to move and Rosa listened as Severus and Lily continued on with a conversation of their own.

About half an hour later, there was a knock at the compartment door. Before anyone could say, "come in," the sliding compartment door was slung open and two dark haired boys rushed in panting. They shut the door behind them quickly and leant their backs against it, out of breath. Rosa recognized one of them as James, from the platform.

"Mind if… we stay here… for bit?" James asked.

"Stuck a bunch of melted chocolate frogs down a seventh year Slytherin's pants… now he's out for us," the second one said, having regained normal breathing for the most part.

"That wasn't very nice," Lily said glaring at the two as the new boys grinned at each other.

"Well, we didn't do it to be nice," said the second boy.

"He was hexing first years," James explained.

"And he was a Slytherin," the second added as if nothing else needed to be said.

"Do you have something against Slytherin?" Severus quipped accusingly.

"Besides everything?" James responded jovially. "I'm James, by the way," he added, stretching his hand out to Lily first. "James Potter."

She hesitantly shook it before adding quietly, "I'm Lily." He then outstretched his arm to Severus and Rosa respectively while the second boy flopped down on the seat next to Rosa. Rosa wasn't sure whether to feel offended or thankful that he didn't remember her.

"I would probably drop out of Hogwarts if I was put in Slytherin," said the second boy, cutting both Severus and Rosa off from introducing themselves. He had a haughty look to him and he slouched carefree against the seat before putting his feet up on the seat next to Lily. She scooted closer to Severus, away from his sneakers.

Severus opened his mouth to respond and the four started bickering about which house was best. Rosa could feel herself getting more and more confused. She had been told Hogwarts was a castle, not four different houses. She decided to follow Lily's lead and get a head start on her reading so she pulled out her copy of Basic Transfiguration and stopped listening as the other continued to heatedly debate the merits of each house.

Rosa didn't know how much time had passed but when she looked up again from her book the London city scenery had transformed into rolling green pastures, spotted with cows and sheep.

It took her a moment to notice that the compartment was deadly silent and that the four pairs of eyes were glaring heatedly at each other. Lily, Severus, James and James's friend seemed to have come to a stalemate in their argument, which was shown in their stubborn, reddening faces.

"Do any of you have the time?" she asked quietly and all four jumped in their seats, startled. Rosa flushed. They had obviously forgotten she was there.

"Who are you?" the boy who hadn't introduced himself asked rudely.

"Rosa Pearl." Rosa smiled. She remembered her mother telling her early this morning to be as friendly as possible, but to trust no one. She stretched out her hand for him to shake but the boy merely smirked and she quickly withdrew it and looked away.

"I think it's been long enough now and the Slytherin won't be looking for you. You two should leave." Rosa beamed at Lily as she harshly stared down the two boys. "Now," she finished and both skittishly grabbed their bags and made their way out of the compartment.

After they left Rosa smiled at Lily again; "thank you," she said.

Lily smiled tightly back before glaring at the boys retreating backs. "Don't worry about it. Those two were probably the meanest, most arrogant arses I've ever met. I don't even care which house I'm in as long as I'm not with them."

Rosa fervently agreed and the three started an easy conversation about their expectations and fears for their new home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Avery, Damien!" McGonagall yelled across the great hall. A small boy with sandy hair stepped forward and walked calmly up to the sorting hat on the stool. The hat had barely touched his head when it roared out a bellowing "Slytherin!" and the boy casually strolled over to the applauding house.

"Benson, Amy!" was the next name called out and a blonde girl stepped forward to sit on the stool. Rosa could feel her hands shaking as she watched her peers get sorted. The hat stayed on Amy Benson's head for quite a bit longer than Avery's and Rosa took the time to peer around the Great Hall. The students seemed bored and many weren't paying any attention at all to the sorting. She felt a slight indignation that they could be so relaxed when it felt like her own life was on the line.

"Hufflepuff!" The girl skipped jovially over to her table as they clapped and whistled loudly.

"Black, Sirius!" Rosa looked up. The room seemed to have grown tenser in the last few milliseconds. All eyes were on Sirius Black-who she now recognized as the rude boy from the train ride-as he slowly made his way to the chair.

If Rosa thought Amy Benson had taken a long time on the stool, she was completely mistaken. 11 minutes had now gone by (she had timed in on her watch) and still there was no word from the hat. Sirius sat on the stool. The sorting hat when down past his eyes but she could see slight frown lines forming around his lips as they moved incoherently. Everyone was still silently staring at the boy; even the professors seemed at a loss as to what was going on. Finally, Sirius let out a loud breath and the Hat opened its brim and yelled "Gryffindor!"

But it was met with silence. Not a single soul began clapping as Sirius got off the stool. He didn't look perturbed at all as he made his way down the steps. As he got to the bottom stair, Albus Dumbledore began to clap and soon the entire Gryffindor house was hooting and yelling and stomping their feet. Sirius grinned and sat down next to a pretty blonde girl. They began to chat animatedly and Rosa, for some reason unbeknownst to her, felt a twinge of anger.

"Quiet!" McGonagall yelled sternly and the Hall fell silent. "Now, without further interruptions… Boot, Anton!" Anton Boot was sorted into Ravenclaw. He was followed by Cecilia Cootes, a bony girl who was promptly sorted into Gryffindor; Amos Diggory, a Hufflepuff; Amanda Dunmarrow, a bespectacled blonde Ravenclaw; and then-"Lily Evans!"

Rosa felt motion beside her and smiled encouragingly at Lily as she began to walk forward but Lily wasn't looking at her; she was focused on Severus who was gazing intently at Lily as she walked away from him.

"Gryffindor!" the hat roared and Rosa watched as Lily smiled radiantly and bounded over to the applauding Gryffindor table. Rosa crossed her fingers and closed her eyes, hoping she would be placed there too even if it meant being in the same house as that Black boy.

When she opened them again, another student had taken Lily's place on the stool. There was another Ravenclaw, Thomas Franklin; and then two Gryffindors, Margaret Hopper and Remus Lupin; and then a Slytherin, Cassiopeia Lyster; another Gryffindor, Dorcas Meadows; a Ravenclaw, Alexandria O'Brien; and then Rosa gasped as McGonagall read off "Pearl, Rosa!"

She could feel her cheeks burning bright red and her limbs were all tingly but perhaps because of some strange hereditary instinct, Rosa didn't move from the dwindling crowd of first years.

"Pearl, Rosa!" McGonagall called again. "Rosa Pearl?" People began to whisper at the tables and Rosa inwardly cringed. She felt someone nudge her back subtly. It was James from the train. He widened his eyes and smiled goofily at her before nodding towards the sorting hat. Rosa blinked, before slowly putting one foot in front of the other and making her way to the hat.

As she reached it, she looked behind her. McGonagall gave her a sour look, her lips pursed together. Rosa looked back at the hat. She lifted it up and set it down on her head.

It was gigantic-and it smelled like something odd-covering her face down to her nose.

"Hmmmmm… what have we here?" a rusty voice spoke in Rosa's head. Rosa gasped and her hands flew to her lips in shock.

"You want to be in Gryffindor?" the hat asked and Rosa frowned. Could it read her mind?

"I don't think that is the right house for you, you know… you are hardly Gryffindor-like at all."

"But where to put you," the hat continued after a long pause. "You are neither brave nor cunning, not particularly loyal… yet you are very strong and you already possess a wealth of knowledge. Yes, more so than any of your peers." Rosa frowned, slightly offended and very confused by what the hat could mean. "And you are very much determined to learn… Ah, yes. Now it is much clearer, you should be in… RAVENCLAW!" the hat bellowed the last word and Rosa quickly took it off.

The Ravenclaw table burst into applause and while there were no hoots or stomping, Rosa still smiled at how easily she was accepted. She sat down next to the girl with glasses-Amanda, Rosa recalled. The girl gave her a tight smile before turning back to the sorting.

Two tables over Rosa spotted Lily who looked absolutely crestfallen. Somehow, Sirius Black had squeezed in next to her and was flicking water out of his glass into her hair. Maybe she was lucky not to be in Gryffindor, Rosa considered.

After Rosa, a short and stout blonde boy who looked almost as nervous as Rosa had was called up and sorted into Gryffindor. Then, Rosa looked up; James Potter's name was called. Rosa wasn't even sure whether the sorting hat had actually touched his head when it called out "Gryffindor!" The entire table gave James a standing ovation and he skipped over to Black. They high-fived and Rosa watched as Lily, perhaps the only one sitting at the Gryffindor table, banged her head against the hard wood in frustration.

Rosa lost track of the following first years; most of them were sorted into Hufflepuff. A tall, handsome boy named Evan Rosier was sorted into Slytherin and then another Slytherin girl and then-Rosa recognize his name! Severus Snape was called up to the sorting hat. She scowled as he was sorted into Slytherin, thinking it would have been nice to have someone she knew in her house. Finally, Enid White was sorted into Ravenclaw and came to sit down next to Rosa, concluding the sorting ceremony. She was shorter than Rosa and had big blue eyes and an innocent look about her.

Rosa opened her mouth to say "hi" but was cut short as a voice boomed across the Great Hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts and to those of you who are returning, welcome back!" Albus Dumbledore's voice carried through the high rafters and echoed around the hall. "Mr. Pringle has asked me to remind you that once again the Forbidden Forest is, as its name suggests, forbidden. There will be serious consequences if any professor finds students breaking this rule. Now, may the feast begin!"

Golden and silver serving trays appeared, covered in delicious, hot, fragrant dishes and Rosa's mouth began to water. In all of the excitement, she had forgotten to eat lunch that day.

There was so much food. She had never seen that much in her life. As the other students began to pile large servings on to their plates excitedly, Rosa continued to gape. There were dishes she had never heard of, smells she had never smelled.

There were strange lumpy puddings and a variety of meats prepared in a multitude of ways. She helped herself to a piece of shepherd's pie, a fried sausage and peas and fried tomatoes.

She closed her eyes for a moment, before inhaling the smells and tucking in to her dinner.

* * *

Rosa woke up at 6:40 the next morning. Her dorm mates were all still asleep so she quietly made her way into the attached bathroom, marveling at how clean the white tile surfaces were.

She hadn't really had a chance to talk to them last night as they had all been so tired after the welcome feast that they promptly went to bed. Enid had seemed nice enough. They were all quite pretty, Rosa thought as she reached for a bar of soap. All blonde, Amanda, Alexandria and Enid, and all with rosy cheeks and pale skin. Now that she thought about it, Rosa realized how out-of-place she must look with her darker skin and hair.

The great hall was almost empty and the handful of students who had arrived to breakfast already were mostly seated at the Ravenclaw table. She smiled as she recognized a boy from her year.

"Hi," she said, sitting down across from him.

"Hey," he replied nervously looking at her beneath long black eyelashes.

"You're Anton, right?" Rosa asked, helping herself to a small bowl of porridge.

"Yeah, and er-what's your name again?"

"Rosa." She smiled at him again before starting as she felt a small tap on her shoulder.

"Here is your schedule Ms. Pearl," said a very small wizard. He had tufts of white hair popping out of his head at odd places and his eyes twinkled as he continued, "I am Professor Flitwick! The charms studies professor and your head of house!" He handed her a piece of paper with her schedule scrawled in neat, cursive handwriting.

"Nice to meet you, sir," she responded. Flitwick nodded and walked away down the table to hand out more schedules.

"My brother said Potions was one of the hardest classes," Anton said flustered after Flitwick had retreated. "And we have it first thing on Monday mornings and I haven't even opened the book yet…"

"I read a little bit of it on the train; it doesn't seem so bad in the first couple of chapters."

"Really? That's good; you can help me out then." Anton's nerves seemed to back down as he continued. "I read the Charms book and Transfiguration this summer but I couldn't even look at the potions one! Too anxious! You know, my brother said that the professor-his name's Slughorn-is fatter than a sofa!"

Rosa giggled. "Like the long-way?" she asked, stretching out her arms.

Anton nodded. "Hopefully he won't be able to fit into the classroom-then he can't fail me!"

Rosa laughed again. "You won't fail! We're in Ravenclaw for a reason right?"

"I guess so… but my entire family has been in Ravenclaw which in this case isn't too reassuring," Anton began to stutter again.

"Come on, let's go back to the dorms and grab our books and then maybe if we have time we can read up a little bit to be prepared," she said and Anton began to calm significantly.

* * *

"He's gigantic!" Rosa whispered across the space between their desks as Slughorn entered the room. Anton didn't respond. His eyes were glassy and she could see pearls of sweat on his hairline. Rosa leaned over and took his hand and squeezed it quickly before turning back to the front of the classroom.

"Welcome to the first class of the year. I am Professor Slughorn," as he said this, tight cursive writing appeared on the chalkboard behind him, "and for today's class I was thinking it would be more fun if we jumped right in! Turn to page 13. We will study theory in the coming classes but today we will focus on the most basic healing potion. Now, light your cauldrons and follow the instructions in your books!"

Rosa turned to the page and began to write down all the ingredients needed for the potion in a list. Chairs scuffed the floor around her as students pushed their way into the supply cupboard. As she got up, she noticed she wasn't the last to rise. On her left sat Lily, face scrunched up and eyes scanning a page four chapters ahead.

Lily looked up and smiled. "Rosa, look. We should add a sprig of peppermint-apparently it makes the potion taste better for the injured and gives the potion more longevity."

"You sure?" Rosa said looking over Lily's shoulder at her textbook. Lily nodded and pointed to the example at the bottom of the page. Rosa thanked Lily and began to scribble the new addition to her list.

"Could we share that? I don't want to forget any ingredients," Lily asked her.

"Definitely," Rosa smiled at Lily and they walked over to the now abandoned supply closet. The rest of the class was feverishly chopping ingredients. Many students, having never lit a fire before were struggling beneath their cauldrons and smoke was drifting throughout the classroom. Rosa grabbed an extra sprig of peppermint for Anton.

* * *

"Hey! Evans!" Lily and Rosa paused as they walked down the lawn to the greenhouses for herbology. "How'd you know to put in peppermint?"

"It was in the book, Potter," Lily said sourly before turning to Rosa, "they've been bugging me nonstop since the feast last night." She gestured to Potter and Black who had just caught up with them.

"Well, next time you should let your fellow Gryffindors know! Ravenclaw got ten points and we only got five. You do realize you just put them in the lead for the house cup?"

"Perhaps I would have told you if you weren't such a toe-rag," Lily snapped and Rosa laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Sirius Black snarled. "I saw you with your little boyfriend in there! Holding hands! Can't you do that in private?"

Rosa flushed. "He's not my boyfriend. And he's not little!" For some reason, Rosa felt she had to protect Anton-granted, he was quite short, shorter than her in fact, but she was so angry. These boys didn't even know her and they were already being so rude.

Black let out a cackle, "don't get your panties in a twist; of course he isn't your boyfriend. I can't think of anyone who would want to be."

Rosa felt her eyes sting with tears. Lily quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the greenhouse, yelling, "shove off!" to the boys. Perhaps this is what her father meant when he said, "do not trust these people." Rosa wiped her nose and closed her eyes, blocking the tears as the students gathered around two long tables covered in potted plants. She should have realized this would happen; no one was particularly nice to her at her muggle school either and she had a hunch as to the reason.

But those boys weren't important, she thought, pushing their taunting faces to the back of her mind. She needed to focus on her lessons and on Lily and Anton. That's all that should really matter.


	3. Chapter 3

Her father's hair had thinned in the four years since he had first taken Rosa to King's Cross Station. It was grayer and bags beneath his eyes had formed and perhaps, if you looked hard enough you could tell that he had grown thinner as well.

Rosa had hardly noticed however and as they walked through the train station her eyes darted around excitedly, searching for Anton and Lily.

But as she looked around it wasn't her friends whose eyes her own locked with. Sirius Black glared at her as a woman, who Rosa assumed to be his mother, angrily snarled at him. She couldn't make out what they were saying and as soon as they had made eye contact, Sirius was pulled roughly away by a haughty, older, dark haired man and Rosa continued walking briskly after her spindly-legged father.

* * *

There was something strange about this particular train ride back to Hogwarts this year, now that Rosa thought about it. As she watched the green pastures roll by she couldn't help but notice how unusually serene their compartment felt.

Lily had fallen asleep with her head on Anton's shoulder and Anton was reading their new potions textbook quite intently. Despite the quiet breaths escaping Lily's open lips, their compartment was almost silent. It was strange and Rosa felt for a moment as if she were an observer of her own life, riding along next to them and looking in through the train window.

But that notion soon passed as a sudden thought struck her. It was very much too quiet. They had been on the train for nearly two hours now and not once had Potter stopped by to harass Lily.

The marauders were usually quite pesky on trains. Rosa wondered what they could be up to.

* * *

"Remus, I know you're a prefect, but no interrupting me," James said sternly.

"I-" Remus began but was cut off by Sirius pointing his wand at Remus's mouth.

"Nope!" Sirius said jovially as his spell silently zipped Remus's two lips together. Remus's face turned red in fury.

"Sirius and I did some thinking over the summer and we came to the conclusion that, if we can't stop your furry little problem from happening every month, we can still make it easier."

"There was this book in my father's study that I nicked-kind of dark, but pretty useful. Anyways, it lays out the steps for becoming animagi," Sirius added.

"And we could come with you every month-if there's three of us, you couldn't hurt us and if we're animals, you wouldn't attack us necessarily."

Remus's face was now the color of the crimson train they were riding and Peter seemed to look a little squeamish.

"There's nothing you can do to stop us!" Sirius jovially laughed.

"You're insane!" Remus yelled, wheezing as his lips had finally ceded to being forced open. "I'll report you!"

"No. You won't," James told him calmly.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Right Peter?"

Peter nodded meekly at Sirius's question.

"You can't do this! You don't understand! I'm not me on the full moon, I won't be your friend!" Remus fumed. His eyes seemed to be brimming with tears.

"Oh shut up," Sirius said casually.

"We're your mates," James added. "And we understand but we want to do this. Come on, let us help you."

Remus faltered, moved by the sincerity in James's voice.

"I-fine."

"Great!" James and Sirius high-fived. "And now onto more pressing topics… Girls!"

Remus rolled his eyes. Even if James had seemed for a moment to be maturing it had been just that: a moment.

* * *

"My dearest Rosa,

Your mother and I are vacationing in America. Her doctor recommended a change of scenery for her. She hasn't been feeling so good lately; I thought a bit of warm weather and nature might do her well. Remember to stay on top of your studies. We both send our love.

Your Father"

Rosa frowned and folded up the small piece of parchment and placing it in her bag. She then patted the delivery owl a few times before it flew off. She hadn't realized her mother had been that sick. In fact, she hadn't been around her much at all over the summer. She had stayed at Lily's for the majority of the summer upon her Father's request and when she had been at home had only surfaced from her room for Friday night Shabbat dinners, which were short and not as lively as they had once been.

Rosa looked at the porridge in the bowl in front of her, feeling utterly despondent. Perhaps she should have stayed at home more this summer; then she could have taken care of her mother.

A loud crash sounded from two tables over and Rosa was broken from her reverie.

"You're such a bloody arse!" That was Lily. Rosa could have known that without having looked up. And the next voice would be…

"Aw, come on! I'm not that bad! You would know if you came on a date with me!" Potter.

"Oh, shut up about it already! No is no. Now leave me alone!"

"Unfortunately my Lily," Rosa cringed, knowing how angry James's possessiveness would make Lily, "we do sit at the same table for breakfast so if you'd like to leave you may, but I have every right to sit here."

"Fine!" Rosa began to silently count in her head knowing that in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds Lily would appear by her side and as if on cue, she felt a very, very angry presence plop down next to her.

"Ugh. He is so disgusting," Lily moaned.

"I honestly don't know why you still there at all any more," Rosa responded.

"Well, I can't just leave Dorcas to fend for herself-they're such pigs." Dorcas. Rosa didn't like Dorcas very much. She was Lily's other close girlfriend and Rosa had admitted to herself a long time ago that she was jealous. Dorcas and Lily were dorm-mates and classmates in every class. And, like the majority of the students at Hogwarts, despite Rosa being Lily's friend, Dorcas had never once given her the time of day.

"I guess, want to get out of here?"

"Yes, please!" Lily and Rosa stood up and headed out the giant doorway, leaving Rosa's untouched porridge behind.

* * *

"I wish a decent guy would like me for once," Lily whispered. They had relocated to the library-a place that had become their secret hideout in first year after realizing that none of the self-proclaimed marauders (apart from Remus Lupin, and Rosa didn't mind him so much) would ever venture into. Since then, they had adopted a table in the far back of the giant room as theirs and theirs alone.

"At least boys know you exist," Rosa laughed. "I would be completely satisfied just for one-decent or not-to get my name right."

"Of course they know your name!" Lily giggled. "All the boys here are just idiots."

"You can say that again," Rosa sighed.

"I just want to go to Hogsmeade with someone-the trip's next weekend-but Potter will threaten anyone who looks at me like he did last year and I'll never get a date!" Lily said exasperatedly.

"Shhh!" Madam Pince peaked around the book shelf angrily as she passed the two girls by.

"Well…" Rosa started, "why don't you ask someone-if it is discreet enough, Potter won't know!"

"You really think I should ask someone? Is that weird?"

"I don't think so. Besides, desperate times call for desperate measures!" Rosa giggled.

"There is someone I sort of like…" Lily trailed off. "But Rosa, if I tell you, you have to _promise _to keep it a secret."

"Who would I tell?" Rosa said reassuringly.

"No you don't understand, you can't tell anyone, especially him!" Lily whispered.

"I'm not going to tell anyone! You and Anton are my only friends and-" a look of understanding appeared on Rosa's face. "Oh. You like Anton, don't you!"

"Shhh!" This time it was Lily hushing her before she nodded meekly. "Promise not to tell?"

"I promise," Rosa said solemnly. "But you should definitely ask him-we all hang out in Hogsmeade anyways so it won't be that big of a deal for him!"

"I think I will!" Lily said happily.

"Oh! Do it tonight! When we're all doing our astronomy homework. I can leave early and it would be so cute if you did it on the astronomy tower!" Rosa encouraged.

"Tonight? That's so soon! I don't think I-" Lily was cut off as the bell rang.

"Oh god, I'm going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures! Gotta run! Have fun in Ancient Runes with Anton!" Rosa winked at Lily as the two girls grabbed their bags and scampered off to their different classes.

* * *

Rosa enjoyed double Care of Magical Creatures. She enjoyed being outside of the castle every Wednesday morning and she enjoyed knowing that her notes were far better than any of her classmates.

While Professor Kettleburn's peg-leg had frightened her when she signed up for the class as a third year, she had soon warmed up to him in her third year after he had offered her extra-credit for studying the Fire Salamanders so astutely in her free time.

"Alright students, pair up. Today we'll be feeding Knarls. There's one for every pair of you," Professor Kettleburn said gruffly. Rosa looked around. She was the only Ravenclaw in her class-most of her classmates had chosen to take more "rigorous" courses for their electives.

She quietly headed to the back of the line of students where a pimply red-haired Hufflepuff stood alone. Rosa smiled at him and he nervously smiled back.

"No, no-definitely not. Potter, Black-you are not pairing up together again. Black, move to the back of the line, you can share a Knarl with Rosa," Kettleburn said exasperatedly. Rosa groaned inwardly and closed her eyes.

"Better not fall asleep on me, Rose."

Rosa sighed and opened her eyes. "It's Rosa. With an a at the end."

"Whatever," Sirius responded lazily. Rosa glared at him in return and the two silently waited for their Knarl.

An hour later, Rosa and Sirius sat on the lawn in front of the forrest, studying their Knarl.

"I wouldn't do that," Rosa said calmly as Sirius grabbed some cabbage to feed their hedgehog-like creature.

"Why? Kettleburn said we should feed them," Sirius responded, annoyed.

"Knarls go berserk if they think they're being poisoned; humans can't feed them unless the Knarl recognizes you." Rosa didn't look up as she said this. Her eyes stayed focused on the small creature that was crawling around in the grass in front of her. Her hand was moving feverishly across the page in her field notebook.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sirius glared at her.

"Here. Give me the cabbage." Rosa stretched out her left hand, balancing her notebook on her knee as she continued to sketch the creature. "Now, pick it up and don't let it see the ground."

Sirius obeyed and Rosa finally put down her notebook and began to shred the cabbage into tiny little pieces with her hands, before sprinkling them around in the grass.

"Okay, you can put her down, now." Again, Sirius obeyed begrudgingly, obviously not used to being bossed around. The Knarl began sniffing around the spread out cabbage, before slowly biting one piece and nibbling on it idly.

"How'd you know all that?" Sirius glared at her.

"It's in the book," Rosa responded, her eyes focused back on her notebook as she began to draw the Knarl again on the next page.

"And how'd you know it's a 'her?'" Sirius questioned unrelentingly.

"She has little nipples on her belly," Rosa flushed as Sirius barked out a loud laugh.

"Merlin, you are such a Ravenclaw!"

Rosa looked up at him incredulously. "Obviously, it's my house."

"No I mean, you're such a nerd!" Sirius laughed again.

Rosa locked her eyes onto her notebook again, refusing to look at Sirius. She knew that the hurt on her face would only encourage him.

"Ah, Rosa, nice technique," Professor Kettleburn said as he hobbled over to them, interrupting Sirius's laughter. "Personally I would have sprinkled some dirt on the cabbage to make it seem more natural but your Knarl doesn't seem to mind one bit!" The Knarl was chewing happily on an extra large piece of cabbage. "Could I take a peak at your notebook?"

Rosa nodded, smiling as she handed her notebook up to the professor.

"Wonderful," he muttered. "Simply fantastic," he said a little bit louder, before exclaiming "I haven't seen field drawings like this since my time in Africa! I would wager my entire life's savings that you'll get an O on your OWL this year. Keep up the good work!" He handed the notebook back to Rosa, beaming, before walking off to check on other students.

As soon as the Professor was out of earshot, Sirius grabbed Rosa's notebook from out of her hands. "You are freakishly good at this...wow," he said.

"Thank you," Rosa said through tight lips. She stretched her hand out to grab her notebook back but Sirius swung it out of her reach.

"Hold on, I want to see the Hippogriff drawings from last week. I am definitely studying with you for the OWL." He began to flip back the pages casually.

"Wait! Stop!" Rosa yelped but the damage had been done.

"Hold up-this is Rosier, isn't it?" Sirius questioned, holding the page out to Rosa who blushed and shook her head furiously. "It is, huh?" Sirius said to himself, staring at the detailed portrait of the handsome blonde Slytherin. "You like him, don't you." It wasn't a question but more of a statement.

"Give me my notebook back," Rosa said harshly.

"You're a Ravenclaw; you're supposed to be smart," Sirius said exasperatedly, still staring at the portrait. "I can't believe you like him. He would never go for you," he added as an afterthought.

"And why is that?" Rosa said through gritted teeth, trying to hold back tears while finally grabbing her notebook out of Sirius hands and shoving it into the depths of her canvas school bag.

"You're a muggleborn. And he's a pureblood Slytherin. Just... don't get your hopes up," Sirius said casually, lying back on the grass.

"Thanks for the advice, asshole," Rosa said glaring at him. "You can return the Knarl." She grabbed her bag and stormed off up the lawn to the castle. Rosa felt her stomach twist as she pushed through the giant doors into the entrance hall. She was fuming at how rude and arrogant Sirius was but mostly she knew she was angry because a part of her had always known that his words were true. Tall, handsome, pureblood Evan Rosier would never even look at someone like her.

* * *

Rosa looked down at her watch; it read 8:27 PM. She looked back up through her telescope before quickly scribbling a few last notes on her astronomy homework.

"I think I've finished; I'm going to head back to the dormitory," she said slowly to Lily and Anton. Anton nodded, not looking up from his homework. Lily however, eyes wide open, stared at Rosa nervously. Rosa gave her a reassuring smile and then said, "I'll see you tomorrow," very deliberately. Lily shook her head spastically and Rosa laughed to herself as she grabbed her bag and telescope and headed down the steep astronomy tower stairs.

Just as she reached the bottom of the stair case she stopped abruptly. There, walking towards her, no less than ten feet away, were James, Sirius and Peter. She gulped and looked back nervously over her shoulder up the staircase to where she knew Lily was mustering up the courage to ask her best friend to Hogsmeade.

The three boys stopped as well, looking almost as shocked to see her as she was to see them. That's when she noticed that Peter was holding a giant cauldron filled with various vials and books. Odd.

Rosa wracked her brain for something to distract them from heading up the tower stairs but nothing came up and an extended silence ensued.

"Astronomy homework?" James said finally, his voice cracking with nervousness. Rosa nodded meekly. "Lily up there?" he continued, gaining confidence.

Rosa paused, unsure of what to say. If she said yes, James would bound on up there and interrupt Lily. If she said no, they would probably head up any ways. "She and Anton are studying," she said quietly. At this, James seemed to have a brief internal dispute and his face blanched.

Rosa cringed at how silently awkward the conversation was going. It was strange however; the marauders weren't usually so lost for words.

"Wouldn't want to disturb them now, would we, _James," _Sirius said loudly, breaking James out of whatever argument he was having with himself. "Better get going. See you, Rose," he said, before whisking the other two down the hall.

"It's Rosa," she muttered quietly to the empty air.


	4. Chapter 4

It was windy and damp and Rosa shivered as she walked up the main street in Hogsmeade. She pulled a small scrap piece of paper out of her coat pocket, silently reading the list of things she needed to buy today. She decided to start at the apothecary's first and she quickly put her hands back into her pockets to warm them up as she continued to walk.

The walk wasn't long and she soon found herself pulling off her scarf as she entered the heated store.

She quickly scanned the list of ingredients she might need for her extra-credit potions assignment.

The bells on the door tinkled as it opened and Rosa cringed as she heard the four raucous voices she had no intention of hearing that day. She quickly moved to the back of the store to avoid trouble and began to sift through the various dried plants to find a few sprigs of lavender.

"All right, we need three dried salamanders, flux weed and peppermint; the rest we can knick from Slughorn," James read off of a list. Rosa watched as the three boys looked at each other before beginning to scour the shelves. She backed further into the store, between the shelves of dried plant and animals parts.

"Ah! I've got peppermint!" yelled a loud voice just on the other side of the shelf. Rosa jumped in surprise and quickly whipped around. "What are you doing here?" the voice said suspiciously and Rosa saw that Black was peering at her over the can of flobberworms through the shelf.

"Sh-sh-shopping," she muttered. Sirius looked angry.

"Well, why don't you take your 'sh-sh-shopping' somewhere else then!" he said aggressively. Rosa nodded meekly and began to rush back up the aisle to the front of the store, still clutching her lavender sprigs.

"Wait!" Remus Lupin shouted just as she was about to exit, "stay right there!" The four boys huddled around each other seemingly worried and if Rosa wasn't so intimidated by them, she might have laughed at how ridiculous they looked.

Finally, they uncurled from their meeting and James spoke. "Rosa, why don't we buy your ingredients for you." His words were slow and calculated.

"Why would you want to do that?" Rosa countered suspiciously.

"Come on," Sirius said-his voice was so casual compared to the other three boys, "we're not actually that bad," and he walked over to Rosa, took the sprigs from her hands and trounced over to the shop desk where he quickly paid for her ingredients.

Rosa scowled at him as he did so. When he was finished paying he handed her back her leaves in a clean jar. "Now, since I was gracious enough to buy you your potions supplies… you might consider not mentioning it to anyone that you saw us here; deal?" he said smugly.

Sirius stuck out his hand proudly, expecting Rosa to shake his but she merely stared at it for a moment before she was interrupted by a wail.

"James?" Sirius questioned, his concentration broken.

"Who is she with?" James yelled angrily, peering out the window into the shop across the street. Rosa quickly skidded over to where he stood; she had a hunch as to whom he was talking about. "Who is that?" James grew more frantic and he turned to Remus wide-eyed.

Lily and Anton had just entered Madam Puddifoot's Tea Room and Rosa could see that they had just been seated in the front of the parlor, in clear view of everyone on the street.

"It's none of your business who Lily is with," Rosa told James crossly. "She isn't your girlfriend."

"You know him, don't you?" James chose to ignore Rosa's comment. "He's that shrimpy boy that hangs out with you all him all the time!" He looked manic and Rosa began to grow worried.

"He's our friend-and he isn't shrimpy!"

"Listen-James, let's go to Zonko's. You're not going to get Lily to 'fall in love with you' by staring at her across the street on her date," Sirius interjected, a slight sarcastic tone to his voice. He rolled his eyes and pushed past Rosa out the door. Peter followed him. Then after a moment's hesitation, James moped after his friends.

"See you around, Rosa," Remus said to Rosa before he too exited the store.

Rosa was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange, empty feeling that was only interrupted as the store clerk cleared his throat, annoyed by her loitering. She rushed out of the store, confused by her interactions with the four boys. As she walked alone back to the castle, she was unable to shake the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach.

Perhaps it had been Rosa's abnormally frequent encounters with them, but as the year wore on, the Marauders-as they had begun calling themselves-seemed to grow even more mean-spirited.

Their pranks, once harmless, turned foul and certain victims began to be focused on. Particularly, and this is why Rosa hated them most, Anton.

And she knew why, as well. Lily and Anton had tried to be discreet; Rosa doubted that anyone, apart from her, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus, knew that her two friends were secretly dating. They never held hands in public, and when Rosa thought hard about it, she realized that she had never seen them kiss.

Yet, just like Lily complained, the Marauders seemed to pop up everywhere she and Anton went alone, teasing and ridiculing the two.

"Hey Evans! You coming to see Gryffindor kick Hufflepuff's arse this Saturday?" James yelled from a few yards away, as he strutted through the Library.

Rosa poked her head up out of her book, peaking up at James as he approached, before ducking back behind their oversized history of magic textbook, She could feel Anton tense up besides her and knew, without looking at her, that Lily had ardently ignored Potter.

"You know, it's rude to ignore people, Lily," James said casually, pulling up a chair at their table.

"You know, it's rude to interrupt us while we're studying," Lily snapped back. Rosa, having now read the same line four times about the statute of secrecy and its effects on the Goblin population, decidedly lowered her book and began to listen more intently.

"So will you be there? I'll be sure to score a goal for you…" James trailed off dreamily.

Lily scoffed. "Actually, I don't think I'll attend. Quidditch doesn't really interest me."

James looked seriously offended and he sat up, shocked.

"How can you say that?"

"Can't you just leave us alone?" Lily said, annoyed, looking to Anton for support.

Rosa lost the rest of the conversation however, as she noticed a flash of motion from behind the bookshelf to their side.

She squinted, trying to make out the dark shape between the books...

Suddenly, she heard a yelp form beside her and the crashing sound of water. Her head spun around to see Anton, completely soaked to the bone.

James started laughing and Lily's face began to grow crimson.

"Wet yourself, Boot?" James cackled.

Anton began to splutter, embarrassed. He frantically wiped off his glasses, trying to find a dry piece of cloth.

"You toe-rag!" Lily screamed as she sent a stinging hex that hit James square in the chest.

"Fuck!" James yelled, still laughing through the pain of the hex at the look on Anton's face.

He rose from the table haphazardly just as Madam Pince, a hawk-like librarian appeared in front of them.

"What is going on here? Boot, clean yourself up and get out of my library." Anton quickly jumped up, collecting his stuff. "As for the rest of you, if I hear another sound, it'll be detention."

She stormed back up the row of books, muttering obscenities under her breath.

"You did that!" Lily whisper-yelled at James.

"How? You saw me the entire time! I don't even have my wand out," James laughed.

"I don't care! You're so.. so.." Lily seemed lost for words by her anger.

There was a shift in the darkness behind the book shelf and Rosa squinted again. She raised her wand, unnoticed by either James or Lily who were bickering once again.

She aimed it carefully, before muttering "petrificus totalus!"

There was a heavy thud and Rosa knew that her spell had connected with whoever had been lurking back there.

Both Lily and James looked up at the sound. Rosa quickly pushed her wand, books and parchment into her bag.

"Sirius?" James whispered. Rosa smiled to herself.

Lily glared at James and haughtily got up to inspect the noise behind the bookshelf.

"Evans, wait!" James called futilely.

"What the fuck, Black!" Lily hoarsely whispered as she saw him lying on the floor, before she added realizing, "It was you who cast that spell on Anton! I want you to go apologize."

Sirius snorted. Perhaps it was Lily's statement, but Sirius suddenly found that the hilarity of the situation broke him out of his petrified state. He sat up halfway, leaning back on his elbows which were bruised from the fall. His whole body was sore.

"Like hell I will," he replied, sending her a mocking smirk. "It's not my fault your boyfriend can't take a lil water for a joke-"

He was cut off as Lily's foot connected with his groin. Rosa snapped her head up as she heard a shrill yelp come from behind the bookcase. She and James hurried over.

"Lily, are you alright?" Rosa started but upon seeing Sirius writhing on the floor, she paused and giggled.

"You… Bitch…" Sirius said through heavy, pained breaths.

"What did you do?" James asked Lily, wide-eyed.

"Just what he had coming to him," Lily responded glaring at James. "And I'll see that the same happens to you if you don't stop pestering us. Come on, Rosa." Lily grabbed her arm and began to pull her out of the library rows but not before Rosa caught Sirius's angry, moist eyes. He glared at her, mouthing something obscene and Rosa quickened her footsteps.

"Complete, total, idiotic, arseholes!" Lily fumed, pacing in front of Rosa. "I can't believe they would do that to Anton, I mean, I can but-oh, I hate him so much!" She finally let out an exasperated breath and flopped down to sit under the shady beech tree next to Rosa.

"They have been particularly awful lately…" Rosa muttered, not listening to Lily's rant. She was focused on sketching the lake in front of her; the Squid had been rather social lately and had taken to waving his tentacles out of the water every thirty minutes or so.

"And Remus and Peter aren't much better," Lily continued. "They never do anything to stop them… what was that World War II quote? I know I learned it in primary… something about bystanders." Rosa's eyes darted over to Lily's, worriedly. "Oh sod it, I can't remember… But they are just as bad!" Rosa relaxed and decided she needed to steer Lily away from the topic.

"They've been acting pretty weird recently too. Always sneaking around-"

"Well that's nothing new," Lily spat.

"No, I mean, when I went to the apothecary they were there… buying things that weren't for school."

Lily looked at Rosa deliberately. "That is weird. Do you remember what they bought?"

"Er, maybe… They needed peppermint, definitely. And, I think dried salamanders and flux weed?" Rosa tried to remember.

"Hm, I can't think of what they would make with those…" Lily trailed off. "But I'm positive they're up to no good. Come on, I want to go check my potions book." She stood up and began to walk up the hill. Rosa followed her, looking morosely at the waters. She had hoped to catch another glimpse of the squid.


End file.
